Catholic Charities Mayflower Food Drive

November 12, 2009 12:00:00 AM PST

FRESNO, Calif. --

Many Valley families aren't even thinking about gifts this holiday season; they just want food to put on their table. But food banks around the Valley are having a hard time keeping up with demand.-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Mayflower Food Drive is located at the River Park Shopping Center near Borders book store. The event starts at 10 a.m. Thursday morning and ends at 6 p.m. on Sunday evening. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Food banks around the Valley are having a hard time keeping up with demand, especially around the holidays.

Wednesday morning Catholic Charities is kicking off their 4-day Mayflower Food Drive in the Borders parking lot at River Park.

The goal is to fill the 53-foot truck, with about 25 to 30-thousand pounds of food and to raise $30-thousand dollars in cash.

Sysco, a food distribution company, started the drive with a huge donation of six pallets worth of canned goods.

"We are all about food. Whether we're selling the food, but we also want to make sure that people are able to eat, especially the people who live here, with us, and so our employees, on their own, picked what they wanted to donate, how much they wanted to donate, and as you can see, we have pallets filled in our truck," said Sysco President Suzi Monzinger.

Jody Hudson with Catholic Charities said, "We're at a great start, but we still have a ways to go, so we still need everybody's support to come out and help this event."

Catholic Charities began their west-side food operation in September to help the thousands of families affected by the drought. The charity has given out a million pounds of food so far this year.